Meet Nagmeh Phelan

Nagmeh Phelan’s poetry travels. Searching for the universal connectivity of life, Phelan scours space, time, memories, relationships, and the human soul, revealing the shared experience of heartache. Surveying the emotional weight of nostalgia, the scars left by moments of misunderstanding and cruelty, and how deep feelings can sanctify a place, Phelan highlights the resilience that emerges from tragedy and binds us together.

Follow the links below to read Nagmeh’s poetry!

Places You Can Cry Without A Reliable Witness
Happy Birthday
Anything for Boat Shoes

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Nagmeh was kind enough to answer a few questions for us. Please enjoy.

What is a writer to you?

To me a writer is an obsessive observer who also loves words. Poetry especially. It’s about not taking your eyes off of the uncomfortable. I was listening to a talk by Ursula K. Le Guin recently and in it she says, “we will need writers who can remember freedom.” I love that she says this in context of the future. Because writers have a responsibility to truth and how reality is remembered. And also a responsibility to make you feel. Like all art, I suppose. And those feelings, as uncomfortable as they may be, frame our lives. I’ve been writing poetry since the age of 5 or 6. I don’t know if all Persian families read poetry together, but my earliest memories include poetry nights. The rhythm and cadence of language were engrained in me early.

What is your relationship to writing like? Do you love it? Hate it? Do you think your art comes from within you or do you believe in muses, or a divine spirit that uses you as an antenna?

I 100% believe that writing (as does all art and science), springs from a Divine source. Not that the work is perfect in any way or a grandiose achievement, but that inspiration comes from an unknowable place that we can never fully understand. And it’s actually not limited to a few people, but we each choose to act on it in our own ways. And truthfully sometimes we ignore that spark, voice, or whatever. I do, for sure. It’s sometimes just a sense that something needs to be said, you know? And for me, it usually presents itself in maybe a few words. Or one phrase. In the past I used to ignore it more and believed that I would be able to conjure the same words later if need be, and I wouldn’t write things down. But I’ve learned over time that the words disappear. Something that seems so clear in one moment of time, just kind of flies past us with the wind if we don’t seize it. So now when the words pop into my head, I just quickly write them down in my Notes app. It might be on the streetcar or in the middle of a show or at a family event — I just get it down how I hear it. Although PSA, there was one time this past year that one of my favourite Notes disappeared. I guess if you press the back button for too long, it’s gone and there’s no retrieve like a file with a history. So there’s that.

Then at some point, in the middle of the rest of life (because is anyone a full-time poet?), I find time to look at the Notes and make sense of them, expand. Usually I write poems fast. And then leave them alone for a bit before going back to scrutinize word choices. I actually love this part. Playing around with words might be the most fun thing in the world.

If you could provide an accompanying soundtrack to your work, what songs would you include on it?

Ooh if I could accompany a soundtrack to my work it would definitely leave you at the brink of depression. I would choose some Mitski like “First Love/Late Spring”, “Fireworks”, “Two Slow Dancers”, Boy Genius (+ multiple solo Lucy, Julien, Phoebe songs), some Lana like “Chemtrails over the Country Club” or “Happiness is a Butterfly”, something from TTPD or Folklore, maybe Rostam, and then wrap it with something like “Coffee” by Chappell.

If your collection was a constellation, what would this new sign be? Can you give us a brief horoscope reading for someone born under that sign?

If this collection were a constellation, it would probably be Cancer; unabashed emotions, nostalgia, and hidden places of vulnerability. Just like Cancer, it holds the tenderness of finding refuge in quiet moments, often in the hidden corners. There’s a sense of protection and memory, like the crab’s shell.

My attempt of a Cancer horoscope reading: Prepare yourself for a season of secret tears and soft epiphanies. You’ll find yourself gravitating toward places where your thoughts echo, and your heart feels safe to unravel. Some people collect vintage records, but you, oh mysterious soul, collect moments that feel like home. Don’t be afraid to let the waves carry you; they know your name and won’t let you drown.

We all have strengths and weaknesses in our writing, what are yours?

I think my weakness is that I haven’t studied form. Like I’ve never formally learned about different types of poems. I’m just free wheeling. Is that a thing? And my strength is probably hearing a phrase in my head and trusting it.

What deal would you make with the devil? (Does not have pertain to writing.)

Deal with the devil? That’s a tough one. Maybe give me the ability to erase singular memories and each time I choose to use the power, a pigeon can poop on my head. Yes?

What written work by another author lives rent-free in your head?

So much lives rent-free in my head. Recently I discovered Forough Farrokhzad, specifically Let Us Believe in the Beginning. It’s an eerily familiar way of writing. I love it. And of course Anne Carson’s Wrong Norma. She’s an idol. Lucille Clifton’s Good Woman. Powerful, powerful stuff.

What are your three desert island books? You’re allowed a guilty pleasure too.

My 3 desert island books? The Brothers Karamazov (need one super long one), The Hidden Words (something spiritual), and maybe The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis (someone who loves words).

What if we said you could take those three, but also one guilty pleasure. What would you take? Ignore the logistics. It can be a book, album, or movie.  

Guilty pleasure take would be the entirety of Twin Peaks. Including the last season.

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